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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Oh you picked another great day for a visit! Serendipity Stamps has a new release! To celebrate we're having a blog hop! If you're hopping along in order you should have reached me from Mary's Blog. That is actually the beginning where you can get all the details for today's event! I hope you're thinking summer and maybe a road trip or staycation. There are new stamps and dies for either. I have three projects for you today. The first features the new hammock stamp and "Relax" word die.

I know everyone doesn't love to color so I thought I'd do something different and leave this one untouched.

I still packed in lots of color with a papered background. Those little wood look sequins? I'm hooked on those!! You can find them at Serendipity, along with the Zig Zag Stitched Border from Pretty Pink Posh (also in the store at Serendipity).

Anya Schrier designed another retro stamp set for Serendipity - this one is all rectangles - and you're going to have so much fun playing with these. They look fab in just about any color - and the combinations and layouts are unlimited.

I created one with pink highlights and one with blue and I really love them both. "Enjoy" is another new word stamp in the store. Check out the dot over the "J". I love that it can double as a comma for the other word dies when I need one. Ready to see more? Your next stop is Jenny Gropp! Jenny is going to amaze you with her gorgeous coloring and lovely layers! But BEFORE you go... leave me a comment. One random commenter from all the blogs will be selected to win a $20 Gift Certificate to Serendipity Stamps. But you have to leave a comment to enter. You have until May 3 to leave a comment The winner will be announced on Monday May 4!!! No worries!! Everyone is a winner!!! Mary is running a special to celebrate the new release!

And the 50% off Stamp of the Month is "Aprons". Perfect for a card for Mom!!For your convenience here's the hop list!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Hi and thanks for stopping by! I was in such a rush today that I almost forgot to post this! I'm into the wee hours of the night! Work is a little slow for DH so he surprised me with a day off. We decided that instead of worrying about lost wages that we should make the most of these opportunities. So we jumped in the car and drove into the City to the Art Institute of Chicago. It's been so long since I've been there! Its amazing how many galleries and objects of art are on display there. Really.. another great day!

It's the last day of the month (I know right?). That means it's time for the 12 Kits of Occasions. The 12 kits is a group of friends (and card makers) that take turns supplying the rest of the group with a "kit" of goodies... think stamped images, pattern papers, trims and die cuts. On the last day of the month we all post our creations and see how we used the supplies differently or in some cases.. not too often.. the same. There is usually a trixie item in the kit that I'm not sure what to do with or that i think you should look out for because it's unique or unusual. This time I think it would be the paper straws. Keep an eye out for them! You will want to file these in your "try me" file. I did use one of the straws after completely destroying the first one lol! I pressed it in my die cut machine... and used it like a ribbon trim. What did the other designers do??? Hmmm..... We'll have to see!!The hostess this month is Tracey McNeely from In My Creative Opinion blog, and the theme is "Tickled Pink" - feathers, mother's day, flowers etc. What an amazing kit of fun new things for me to try. Lots of Simon Says Stamp images and pretty bright papers from Doodlebug. You know I love pink, and I love flowers so I'm all over this kit! Tracey is on lots of design teams and is Queen of all things CAS. She has a wonderful way of embracing the white space and her designs never look empty. I originally intended to CASE her - with a few clean designs of my own... but I wouldnt say I was successful! LOL!! I made 5 cards so here goes!!!

Loving this pre-stamped image from Tracey - look at all the colors she stamped on this one!!

Ready to see what the rest of the group did? You can see a "sneak peek" from each designer as well as a link up to their blog here on the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog. We have a special guest this month too! Suzanne Dahlberg! I hope you'll hop over to her blog and say Hi! Suzanne was one one of the original members of the 12 kits! It's so nice to have her playing along this month. I'm also entering at Simon Says Work It Wednesday Challenge!

Hi and thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are having a great day! DH just called and promised dinner out at my favorite Thai restaurant!! Does it get better than that? I'm still trying to sort out my craft room. Cabinets and counter top are in- can you believe it? Shelves are going up this week. Time to move my photo set up in. It will be so nice to have everything in one room instead of running down a flight of stairs every time I need to take a picture.

Before I get derailed working on that I really wanted to play along at CASology this week. Serendipity Stamps is their sponsor this time and I know you will want to play along for your chance to win a $20 gift certificate! The challenge this time is "Flight".

My first thought was butterflies. I love this intricate detailed stamp from Serendipity! I inked it up in different colors of Memento ink - daffodil, pear tart, bahama blue and danube blue. Then I stamped the sentiment in Versafine onyx black so it would stand out - crisp and clean.

Showing this side view so you can really see how CAS this one is. I stamped directly on the front of a piece of folded card stock.

A little bling always makes me happy! I added a sprinkle of sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to add a little shine and color. Did you know Serendipity stocks all the Pretty Pink Posh dies? OK now it's your turn! I hope you find a little time to play along at Casology this week!

Monday, April 27, 2015

I'm posting at the Twinery today with this pretty peony die cut from Pretty Little Studio. Don't you think that a little bit of twine just makes the perfect finishing touch on your projects? I think I add it to just about everything.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Another weekend is upon us! DH likes to go out and play pinochle. Today is his turn to host the group - so that means I'll have my chef's hat on today! LOL! I'm making salmon, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies. Dessert? Chocolate chip cookies! YUM! Those guys eat pretty good don't they?Do you love tags? Well of course you do! LOL! Who doesn't? Well you're going to love this! A new challenge begins today at Tag You're It! Look at this beautiful inspiration from Jen Mitchell! Don't you love the soft blending of the colors?It was so tempting to grab a fancy floral stamp and CASE this exactly! It's just beautiful! I decided to switch it up a little bit (ok ALOT). I kept lots of elements the same... a tri color background, fancy floral image in white, black accents... you see it don't you? LOL!! The design really translated well from a stamp to a die cut and was so much fun.

Now it's your turn! We'd love to see your beautiful creations linked up at Tag You're It Challenge. Go ahead .. click it.. you know you want to! You'll see lots of great other designs from the rest of the design team featured there as well. Have a great weekend and happy crafting friends!!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Hi! How is everybody doing? Keeping busy here as normal! LOL! Lots going on... still in the middle of my craft room renovation. Some items on back order, but feeling a billion pounds lighter... There are stacks of things everywhere waiting to get put away and organized when the cabinets come in ... but so many things I got rid of. Things I was saving for.. "Some Day". I'm trying to stick with the items I use the most. It broke my heart to get rid of all my fancy paper punches... but my wafer thin dies take up so much less space and I use them much more often - every day often. The punches? Not so much.. I just hope they find a happy home and someone loves them as much as I did!! LOL!!!

A new challenge begins today at Fusion Card Challenge! You can work from the inspiration photo or the sketch..whatever moves you. Feeling clever? Put them together like I did! The shapes on the sketch are just for reference, a circle doesn't have to be a circle. I was inspired by the bright red and yellow of the photo! I wasn't feeling so "flowery". It's cold and windy here and I'm thinking spring. I thought these strawberries (an oldie but a goodie) would do the trick. Yep! More Basic Grey paper - totally addicted I must say! What ever happened to October Afternoon? Anybody know? Gosh I miss them!

I originally stamped my strawberries on the pattern paper. They got a little lost - no problem. I just stamped them a second time on white card stock, fussy cut them and layered them over the original. Sometimes when mixing pattern papers the layers get lost - to help define them a little better I added distress ink to the edges, and matted one of the pieces on a solid pink card stock panel.

Ready to see more? Checkout what the rest of the team made! Welcome Deanne Kay - our newest DT member!!!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Told you I've been a busy little bee here. Sometimes it feels like feast or famine I know. I'm still plugging away, I just don't know when some of the things will post.

I do know that Poppystamps is having a fantastic new release of dies and now NEW CLEAR STAMPS! Today I'm showing the new "Cover Squirrel" set that I think you're really going to like. The new stamps all have companion dies to make them easy to work with. Want a chance to win the new "Cover Squirrel" set? Head on over to the Poppystamps blog and leave me a comment there. One random comment will be selected to win this set. And hey.. while you're there ... look around. There is a prize on EVERY post between April 13-25. You have until April 28 to leave comments on the posts you want to enter.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Did I tell you? I'm doing a little renovation with my craft room. DH is adding some kitchen cabinets and a big counter top for me to work on! The down side is moving everything out of the way - out with the old and in with the new. I won't tell you how many trips I made to the good will drop box with some of my older things. I hope they find a new crafty home! So far I have four new cabinets - counter top is on back order... so still a work in progress. Yes! I promise some photos when it's all together!!

We're at the half way point of the latest Serendipity Stamps Challenge. This month the challenge is "Monograms & Verse". We thought this would be a clever way for you to "stretch your stamps and dies". Think of all the word dies you have. You could make a neat monogram just by snipping off a few letters. You could mask off letters from your sentiment stamps too. There are so many beautiful fonts and initials to choose from. Not feeling up to making a monogram? Make a card with your favorite Serendipity sentiment. I'm so lucky that my first and last initial are the same. It makes it really easy to create a symmetrical design.

I love this floral frame stamp and really enjoyed coloring it with Copic markers. I love all the colors I was able to incorporate into the design.

We're trying something new at Serendipity - a 50% off "stamp of the month". This time it's the Jar Label. And... another special 50% Off select Wood Mounted stamps - you can see them here.

Need a little inspiration? It's only a click away! See what the design team made for this one!

Hi I'm Jeanne!

A Kept Life

When I left my full time career job my husband started calling me his "kept wife". The name of my blog is a play on that expression, because now I capture moments in photographs, and create in color in my "kept life". I hope you enjoy - thanks for stopping by!